James H. Keatley

After a long and fulfilling life, James H. "Jim" Keatley passed away at Holmes Regional Medical Center on February 25, 2024 at age 92 of complications from a stroke. Born in Oak Park, Illinois in December 1931 to Howard Keatley and Esther Knoblauch, Jim spent his formative years in Western Ohio without a father. Fixing radios and televisions in partnership with his best friend Joe, he taught himself practical electronics. Upon graduation from Arlington High School, they enlisted in the US Air Force days before the outbreak of the Korean War. Jim was sent to radar school at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi. Honorably discharged to support his mother and sisters after his stepfather's death, he met Dorcas Hunter of Carey, Ohio at a factory supplying automobile parts to Studebaker. They married in July 1954, a partnership that lasted until her death in 2017. With her support and the GI Bill, Jim excelled in electrical engineering at DeVry Technical Institute in Chicago.

Moving to San Diego in 1956 to accept a position with Convair Astronautics, Jim became a missile man on the new Atlas program. Transferred to the Air Force Missile Test Center at Cape Canaveral in May 1957, he was in the Complex 14 blockhouse for the launch of the first Atlas (4A) in June 1957, assigned a technician's position on a console soon after. He was an assistant foreman on the launch team for many Atlas flights including Project SCORE (President Eisenhower’s Christmas message from space) and the Mercury and Gemini programs. He personally saved the console Engine Start button from John Glenn’s flight. This was the button that initiated the firing sequence of the Atlas pushed by test conductor Tom O’Malley. It is currently preserved in the American Space Museum at Titusville.

Jim was recruited to join the North American Aviation Apollo spacecraft organization by their new Director of CSM Operations, Tom O'Malley, after the Apollo 1 fire in 1967. As an Apollo CSM Manager, Jim oversaw hands-on mechanical teams for Apollo 8 through 17, Skylab, and Apollo-Soyuz. After the Apollo program he had a brief layoff before returning as Pad Manager for Launch Complex 39, overseeing launch preparations for Rockwell International on the Space Shuttle program through 1984.

Lockheed's subsequent win of the Space Shuttle contract shuffled Jim into a backoffice position until his retirement in 1993. He taught himself to become a clocksmith, researched ancient civilizations, and started a series of trips that would take him and Dorcas around the world. Visiting 55 countries by 2014, they met artisans on the back streets of Florence; marveled at the wonders of the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, Russia; and climbed to the top of Macchu Picchu. In words, sketches, and photographs, he carefully documented their stops, creating a scrapbook of each journey to share these adventures with family and friends and to re-read fondly when their travels became limited. While his son saw little of him while growing up, they reconnected after Jim's retirement over a shared love of vintage vehicles and the family traveled together to Panama and the United Kingdom.

Preceded in death by his beloved wife Dorcas and most of his friends from the Atlas days, Jim is survived by his son John Keatley (Sandra Friend) and sisters Marianne Richardson and Lila Pifer. We will gather to celebrate Jim's life on March 14 between 2 and 4 PM at Wylie-Baxley (1360 N Courtenay Parkway, Merritt Island, FL 32953). Please join us to share your stories and memories. Jim will be laid to rest beside Dorcas at Brevard Memorial Park in Cocoa. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the American Space Museum in Titusville.